I was so pissed at Cooper and Yzerman for how Drouin was developed and used. Now at this point for refusing to report to his AHL game the kid can go **** off now. Either he is a head case or he is taking some very bad advice.

At this point, I honestly hope we don't trade Drouin. Let the little bitch sit at home, get his skills rusty, and then start begging later on to be traded again. You have the nerve to have your agent declare that you won't continue with the Lightning "in any capacity"? This after YOU didn't show up for a game and got your ass suspended?

The Bolts don't need you Drouin, and 'he won't last long in this league with that atitude.

Hopefully Stamkos realizes his situation here in TB is better than just about anywhere else he could go. The Bolts are better suited to be title contenders over the next couple of seasons moreso than anywhere he'll land in FA. Plus, the whole taxes situation, if he signed for $10M a year elsewhere, wouldn't it almost be the same as making $9M a year here?

pewterpirates wrote:Hopefully Stamkos realizes his situation here in TB is better than just about anywhere else he could go. The Bolts are better suited to be title contenders over the next couple of seasons moreso than anywhere he'll land in FA. Plus, the whole taxes situation, if he signed for $10M a year elsewhere, wouldn't it almost be the same as making $9M a year here?

At the reported 8.5 million, he'd be pocketing more money than a 10.5 million contract elsewhere.

If Johnson has returned to last year's form then let's just say I'm very excited. This has been the most roller coaster season I have ever had as a Lightning fan and I sometimes wonder where we are going to be in 2 weeks and then once it passes I can't believe it.

Yep. I really don't like where things are headed. Bolts fans can say whatever they want about how Stamkos wants to stay, but — like I've said since the day after the SCF — I won't believe it until I see his name in dried ink on a Lightning contract extension.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded veteran defenceman and captain Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators in a nine player deal.Along with Phaneuf, the Leafs send forwards Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey, Ryan Rupert and defence prospect Cody Donaghey to the Senators in exchange for defenceman Jared Cowen, forwards Colin Greening, Milan Michalek and Tobias Lindberg as well as Ottawa’s second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.No salary will be retained by either team over the trade’s entirety."This was a transaction that certainly wasn't for today," Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello said.

Well Jesus Lou how about just outright saying it. You salary dumped to make the biggest offer on planet earth to Stamkos. Jesus I've about had enough of the damn dillydallying on Stamkos' part to getting this deal done. He's stalling on purpose

Lightning in danger of missing playoffs. How big of a failure would that be if they didn't make it? My goodness. So many expected them to be contenders for the next couple years. Now, we might not even make it the year after being SCF runners-up.

Nano wrote:Bolts are finally healthy, and have shaken off most of their bad play. They'll be a tough team to beat for the rest of the year if everything can remain stable.

The defense is playing great right now. I read that they haven't allowed more than 2 goals in a game since the 5 they gave up to San Jose in the game that started the current win streak. Even though they came back to win that game, the players had a closed locker room meeting afterwards. Since then, they've been playing lights out.

Good news for Lightning fans... Hedman and Callahan participated in yesterday's practice. Still no Tyler Johnson though. Regardless, they're really going to need Super Bishop for this series and beyond if they have a prayer of going deep.

Just more Penguins hockey. Sharks came out hot - winning faceoffs, cycling the puck, getting shots. However, Pittsburgh stood their ground and blocked the majority of the shots early. The Pens absolutely out hustled the Sharks in the Pens offensive zone and kept plays alive. First goal goes to Rust who has been a solid addition. Not to be outdone, his fellow rookie Sheary takes a nice dish from Crosby and with Hornqvuist running a screen, goes top shelf on Martin.

Sharks came firing back in the second. Simply looked like a different team. San Jose forced their will on the Pens and after going on a man advantage, Hertl was able to find the back of the net on a deflection off of the Penguins defender. Later in the second the Sharks were able to get a nice wrap-around goal on Murray to tie it up 2-2 going in to the third.

The third was back and forth for a while. Penguins ended up having multiple quality chances. In the end, Letang finds Bonino in front of the net with Paul Martin caught looking, and lifted the puck past Jones.

Looked like more of the same from Pittsburgh. Come out fast and shoot the puck on the net. 40+ shots on San Jose, to their 25ish I believe. I expect the Sharks to come out swinging Wednesday night. Going down 2-0 is a death sentence in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Burns was as good as advertised, collecting 2 assists on the night. He, Marleau and Thornton will look to rally their guys headed in to Wednesday nights game.